Fifty-three
million people across the United States were in harm’s way as a
powerful storm system raged across the Midwest on Sunday, spawning
deadly tornadoes that left a path of destruction in parts of central
Illinois.

A
tornado outbreak was likely to hit the Chicago area, according to the
Storm Prediction Center. The possible tornadoes are part of a storm
system that is also expected to bring damaging high winds. The Weather
Channel's Mike Seidel and TODAY's Dylan Dreyer report.

Washington,
Ill., near Peoria, was particularly hard hit, with one resident saying
his neighborhood was wiped out in seconds. Emergency crews were going
door to door through the damaged neighborhood in search of victims.

At least three people in Illinois, including an elderly brother and sister, were killed in the storm, officials said.

"I
stepped outside, and I heard it coming. My daughter was already in the
basement, so I ran downstairs and grabbed her, crouched in the laundry
room, and all of a sudden I could see daylight up the stairway, and my
house was gone," Michael Perdun told The Associated Press. "The whole
neighborhood's gone, (and) the wall of my fireplace is all that is left
of my house."

An elderly brother and sister who lived in a farmhouse near New
Minden, Ill., were killed in the storm, Washington County Coroner Mark
Styninger said. The man, 80, was pronounced dead at the scene, and his
sister, 78, was pronounced dead at a local hospital on Sunday.

One
fatality was confirmed in Brookport, Ill, said Charles Taylor,
spokesman for Massac County Emergency Management. No details were
available.

By early evening, with communications difficult and
many roads impassable, it remained unclear precisely many people were
hurt, but some 37 people were injured and taken to St. Francis Hospital
in Peoria, where seven were reported to be trauma patients. In a news
release, the Illinois National Guard said it had dispatched 10
firefighters and three vehicles to Washington to assist with "immediate
search and recovery operations in the tornado-damaged area."

Numerous injuries were also reported in Massac County.

At
NBC affiliate WEEK-TV in Peoria, newscasters had to go off the air
abruptly as they realized they themselves were in the path of the
twister. According to the NWS, the station’s building sustained roof
damage.

In Tazewell County, central Illinois, emergency crews
were responding a tornado that flattened homes in several neighborhoods.
The cities with reported damage include Washington, Perkin and East
Peoria, county spokeswoman Sara Sparkman told NBC News. Pictures from
Washington showed an expansive trail of wood debris from homes torn
apart as the twister laid waste to one neighborhood.

East Peoria
Mayor Dave Mingus said about 100 homes were damaged in his city of more
than 23,000 residents, with 25 to 50 destroyed and uninhabitable.

The Red Cross was working with the county to open up shelters in the area for families whose homes were damaged.

At
least 83,000 customers were without electrical power Sunday evening,
most of those in the Peoria area, said Jonathon Moken, emergency agency
spokesman.

Rescue teams are deploying to multiple areas across Illinois, focusing on the hard-hit Washington and Gifford areas, Moken said.

In Chicago, the Bears versus Baltimore Ravens game was postponed due to the weather,
and the seating area at Soldier Field was evacuated, according to team
officials. The game resumed at about 2:20 p.m. CDT after nearly a
two-hour postponement.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn warned residents that the weather and storms across the state were “very serious.”

"I
urge everyone to pay attention to all weather alerts and stay home and
inside if possible,” Quinn said in a statement. “Driving during these
severe conditions is extremely dangerous. All residents should stay off
the roads until these storms and flood warnings subside."

"We
obviously have a very dangerous situation on our hands and it's just
getting started," Laura Furgione, deputy director of the National
Weather Service, said earlier.

She added, "Get ready now."

Parts
of the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, lower-middle Mississippi Valley and
Tennessee Valley were among the areas most at risk for widespread
damaging winds and possible tornadoes, experts with the Weather Channel
said.

The highest threat area for tornadoes was eastern Illinois
into Indiana, southern Michigan, western Kentucky and western Ohio, but
dangerous winds were also a concern as the storms move across the
Appalachians as well as parts of the Northeast into early Monday, the
National Weather Service said.

Winds and hail could cause downed trees and scattered power outages, including to areas such as Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo.

Russell Schneider, a director at the National Weather Service, warned
that the storm would move rapidly and might quickly progress from one
location to the next.

“Fifty three million people over ten states are at severe risk,” said Schneider.

“Do not wait for visual confirmation of the threat” he advised residents of the Midwest.

"People can fall into complacency because they don't see severe
weather and tornadoes, but we do stress that they should keep a
vigilant eye on the weather and have a means to hear a tornado warning
because things can change very quickly," said Matt Friedlein, another
meteorologist with the Weather Service, told The Associated Press.

The
Weather Channel predicted the storm would diminish as it moves east
through Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey, but high winds could
reach as far as New York on Monday morning.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot create polls in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum